Coal breaker



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COAL BREAKER Filed March 28, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan.2,1934. s D HARTSHORN COAL BREAKER Filed March 28, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 n n n INVENTOR Jan. 2, 1934. sLD. HARTSHORN 1,941,603

COAL BREAKER Filed March 28, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR'.

S.D. H T ORN Patented Jan. 2, 1934 UNITED STATES COAL BREAKER.

Stanley D. Hartshorn, St. Davids, Pa., assignor to Pennsylvania Crusher Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 28, 1929. Serial No. 350,703

11 Claims.

My improvements may be applied to machines of the type illustrated in the patent of Berton and Hiller, No. 1,086,129, Feb. 3, 1916, or the patent of Hiller, No. 1,322,568, Nov. 25, 1919, and one object of my invention is to provide a coal breaker of the type illustrated in said patents, familiarly known as a Bradford breaker, in which coal may be reduced to desired sizes, so constructed and so arranged as to function in a highly satisfactory manner for the breakage and delivery of the coal undergoing treatment and the separation therefrom of foreign material in the form of sulfur balls, slate, parts of railroad iron, etc., which foreign material is automatically discharged from the breaker at desired intervals.

A further object of my invention is to provide a breaker having a substantially closed discharge end in order that any foreign material which may collect at such discharge end may be held for periodic instead of continuous discharge; such discharge end having an opening which may extend to the edge of a coned portion of the drum which forms a part of such end and is so related or disposed with respect to said end that when the latter is in the position of possible discharge of the foreign material said opening is covered by a movable or adjustable wall disposed externally of the drum whereby the foreign material is retained within the same until such time as it may be desired to discharge it.

A further object of my invention is to provide a coal breaker of the Bradford type which may be operated in both directions; the usual rotative movement during a breaking operation being continuously in one direction, while movement in the opposite direction may be intermittently carried on for short periods for the purpose of discharging any foreign material carried toward one end of the breaker during its movement to effect reduction of the coal operated upon.

A further object of my invention is to provide a structure which, by reason of periodic discharge of the foreign material may be of much shorter construction than the usual breakers of this type, whereby the extent of apertured wall surface necessary to discharge the reduced coal may be considerably lessened without affecting the capacity of the breaker.

A further object of my invention is to provide a separate discharge chamber for the reception of foreign material discharging from the breaker drum; such chamber being disposed beyond the end of the drum and having a door closing the inlet thereto during the normal operation of the breaker; which door also serves to close the discharge opening at the end of the drum.

And a still further object of my invention is to provide the breaker structure with a plow for diverting to said discharge opening and thence to said chamber any foreign material collected at one end of the breaker drum; such plow arranged to function when the breaker is being rotated in a direction opposite to that employed for effecting the breaking operation, and such plow being provided with an apron so that during the usual operation. of the drum for the breaking action the foreign material collecting at one end, of the breaker drum may cascade over said plow and be retained at such end of the drum until conditions require its discharge.

These and other features of my invention are more fully described hereinafter; reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a breaker structure constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same, looking in the direction of the arrow (1 and partly in section on the line IIII, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the walls of the breaker developed in a plane.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one end of the breaker showing my improved plow for discharging foreign material therefrom.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the receiving chamber or hopper arranged at the discharge end of the breaker, and

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the delivery end of a breaker drum illustrating a further embodiment of my invention.

In general respects the breaker structure forming the subject of my invention is substantially like those illustrated in the patents above referred to; excepting that it may be much shorter in length. It may comprise the frames or supporting structures 1 and 2 at the respective ends of the breaker, each of which frames may consist of a circular member of frusto-conical form having a series of spokes 3 and 4, respectively, which may be integral therewith and form spiders having central hubs 5 and 6, respectively, carrying short shafts or trunnions, indicated at '7 and 8, which may be supported in suitable bearings 9. One of the end frames, that indicated at 1 for instance, may be provided with gear sections 10 whereby rotative movement may be imparted to the structure as a whole by means of a suitable pinion engaging said gear sections in the usual manner; such pinion being driven by suitable means, not shown.

Connecting the end frames 1 and 2 are a series of beams 11 which may be in the form of sections of railroad rails suitably secured thereto, and the wall of the drum may be made up of plates 12 of the type and with their longitudinal edges overlapped in the manner illustrated in the patent of Doerres, No. 1,563,173, dated Nov. 24, 1925. As in the structures of the Hiller, and Borton and Hiller patents referred to, the interior of the breaker drum is provided with a series of shelves 13 which serve to carry up the material undergoing treatment during rotation of the same so that it may drop and be broken by impact against said plates 12, and intermediate these shelves, a series of deflector blades 1% are preferably arranged, which blades may be of any suitable type, such for instance as those disclosed in the patent of J. A. Plimpton, No. 1,700,687, dated January 29, 1929. The purpose of these blades is to gradually divert the material undergoing breakage and carry it from the inlet toward the discharge end of the cylinder; those portions reduced to the intended size and the smaller fragments passing through apertures in said plates 12, while the foreign material is v carried to the end of the drum.

Y continuously discharged; such foreign material being usually in the form of sulfur balls, and/or pieces of slate, together with pieces of metal, the so-called tramp iron, always encountered in what is termed run-of-mine coal.

In prior practice, it has been found necessary to provide breakers of considerable length in order to insure that all of the coal deposited therein to be broken may be completely discharged through the apertures of the wall made up of plates such as those indicated at 12, before reaching the final series of plates at the end of the drum and toward which the foreign material is being continuously directed so that, in the continuous discharge of such foreign material, no

coal will be carried off with it.

per proper operation for delivery of the broken coal at which time the discharge of such foreign material may take place. Assuming that the breaker may be run for eight hours at the usual speed and in one direction, it may be desirable during such running time to discharge the foreign material twice; such discharge depending upon the amount that may be present in the coai or other material undergoing treatment. 7

For thispurpose the discharge end of the breaker structure is provided with a plow, so arranged that in the normal operation of the drum for breaking the coal operated upon, any foreign material encountered and passed to the discharge end of the drum will be carried around the wall of the drum at such discharge end continuously; all of such foreign material gradually accumulating at such end. When it is desired to discharge the foreign material, the feed is shut off; the drum is permitted to rotate for a certain length of time to insure removal of all the coal present, and it is then stopped. Motion is then imparted to the drum in the opposite direction, and the plow is so constructed and positioned at such end that in such reverse movement of the drum it will act to automatically discharge all of the foreign material.

For such operation, my improved plow may comprise a plate 1''! performing the function of a scoop; one edge of which extends to the rim of the frame 2, and a wall 18 which may extend in a diagonal or curved direction approximately across one row of the apertured plates 12 at the delivery end of the cylinder so that it may act to divert the foreign material out of the breaker cylinder when the latter is moving in the nonbreaking direction, and discharge such foreign material through the opening 19 between the spokes or arms of the end frame 2 of the drum adjacent to the plow.

In order that such foreign material may be retained within the cylinder at the delivery end of the same during the rotation of the drum in the direction employed to effect breakage of the coal, such plow may be provided with an apron in the form cl a plate 20, which may extend between the upper margin or edge of the wall 18 of saidplow and one of the plates 12 making up the wall of the drum. The presence of this apron enables any foreign material lifted up during such operation to cascade over the plow and be retained within the drum at the delivery end of the cylinder and, if desired, the inner edge of such apron may be provided with a vertical flange 21 arranged substantially concentrically in order that such foreign material will be maintained within the bounds of the last series of plates, directly adjacent to the delivery opening. In disposing the plow at the delivery end of th break ng cylinder, it necessarily occupies a position related to the shelves 13 which extend longitudinally of such cylinder and, if desired, that shelf which would otherwise he somewhat near the scoop portion of the plow may be discontinued in front of the same in order to prevent too great displacement or scattering of the foreign material by the shelf during the rotation of the drum. If desired, all of the shelves may be discontinued adjacent the last row of plates so as to leave the zone within which the foreign material may move during the breaking operation of the cylinder entirely clear of the same. In the present instance I have illustrated the plow and associated parts as built of structural members, but it will be understood that it may be cast in whole or part and may be a completely integral structure without departing from my invention.

Externally of the breaker cylinder and in relation to a housing 22 which may be employed to enclose the same, I may provide a hopper 25 into which the foreign material may be discharged, and this hopper is provided with an opening 26, disposed toward the delivery end of the cylinder, which latter opening is normally closed by a door such as indicated at 27, which may be arranged to slide with respect to thehopper; the end wall of the housing extending over the end of the cylinder in line with the inner wall of such hopper. The sliding door 27 which covers the opening in the wall of the hopper 25 is in the closed position during the normal coal-breaking operation of the structure, and in such position it serves to close'the opening 19 as the latter passes the door in the rotation of the cylinder. The foreign material is thereby retained in the cylinder during the breaking operation.

While in many instances I will employ the housing and hopper arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1, 4 and 5 of the drawings, it will be understood that the features of my invention may be embodied in a breaker structure having a completely closed delivery end which may be formed by plates fitting in the spaces between the arms or spokes of the spider and the marginal rim of the end frame connected thereto; one of such plates being in the form of a door which may be opened when it is desired to discharge the foreign material collecting within such breaker cylinder. Such arrangement is indicated in Fig. 6, wherein a door 19 is shown as closing the opening 19 through which the foreign material may discharge; such door remaining closed during the breaking operation of the cylinder and serving to retain the foreign material in the latter until it is desired to discharge the same.

When the direction of movement of the breaker cylinder has been reversed for the purpose of discharging the foreign material collecting in the end of the same, the door 27 may be opened by sliding the same relatively to the hopper, as indicated at the right of Fig. 5. Upon imparting movement to the breaker cylinder in this opposite direction, indicated by the arrow 1 the foreign material collected at the end of the same will be diverted by the plow through the opening 19 of such end and into the opening 26 of the discharge hopper 25, from which it may pass to any desired point or be carried away by suitable means, such as a traveling belt, as may be desired.

If desired the foreign material may be retained in said hopper for periodic removal, and for such purpose the hopper may have a suitable opening closed by a door 28. When it is desired to discharge the foreign material from a cylinder of the character illustrated in Fig. 6, the door l9 may be opened and supported in such open position by suitable means until all of the foreign material is discharged after which such door may be closed and retained in such position during a coal breaking operation.

While I have illustrated my improved breaker structure as rotating in the direction of the arrow :13 when operating to break coal or other material fed into the same, and in the direction of the arrow y when operating to discharge foreign material accumulating at the discharge end during such coal breaking operation; the plow being illustrated in the several views as disposed in a position to effect this result, it will be understood that such directions of rotative movement may be reversed, if desired, by making suitable changes in the position and arrangement of the shelves; the deflector blades, the plow and, when employed, the door of the hopper receiving the foreign material discharged from the breaker cylinder. In such changed relation, the plow could occupy, relatively, the position indicated by broken lines in the diagrammatic development of the cylinder illustrated in Fig. 3.

As shown in Fig. 5, the discharge hopper extends across the end of the housing enclosing the breaker cylinder and is of a type that may be employed for general use, that is to say it is wide enough to take care of the discharge of foreign material from the breaker drum no matter what the direction of movement of the latter may be for the purpose of effecting such discharge. In installations designed for the discharge of foreign material when the drum is rotated in the direction of the arrow y, this hopper could be shortened by omitting the portion to the left of the broken line indicated at 2.

While I have illustrated and described certain specific forms of mechanism and an arrangement thereof intended to function for the desired purpose, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the precise mechanism illustrated nor the exact manner of associating the parts employed therewith in developing the improved coal breaker forming the subject of my invention, and the appended claims are intended to cover the constructions illustrated as well as any modifications capable of operation to perform the same function.

I claim:

1. The combination with a coal breaker having a rotatable cylinder with apertured walls and end frames for inlet and delivery of material operated upon, of a wall partially closing the delivery end of said cylinder and having a segmental opening extending to the margin of the end frame, a displaceable door for closing said opening, and a plow disposed at such delivery end; said plow being arranged in operative position with relation to said opening for discharging foreign material collecting in said cylinder upon opening said door and rotating the cylinder.

2. The combination with a coal breaker having a rotatable cylinder with apertured walls and means for rotating the same, of a wall at the delivery end of said cylinder with a marginal opening, a movable door closing said opening, and a plow arranged within said cylinder relatively to the opening in the end wall of the same for discharging foreign material collecting in said cylinder when said door is opened.

3. The combination with a coal breaker having a rotatable cylinder with apertured walls, a wall at the delivery end of said cylinder with a marginal opening and means for rotating the same, of a hopper disposed externally of said cylinder and having an opening which may communicate with the opening in the end wall of the cylinder, a movable door closing said hopper opening, and a plow arranged within said cylinder relatively to the opening in the end wall of the same for discharging foreign material collecting in said cylinder when said hopper door is opened.

4. The combination with a coal breaker having a rotatable cylinder with apertured walls, means for rotating the same in opposite directions and a wall at the delivery end of said cylinder with a marginal opening, of a hopper disposed externally of said cylinder and having an opening which may communicate with the opening in the end wall of the cylinder, a movable door closing said hopper opening, a plow arranged within said cylinder relatively to the opening in the end wall of the same for discharging foreign material collecting in said cylinder when said hopper door is opened and the cylinder is rotated in one direction, and an apron carried by said plow and permitting such foreign material to cascade over said plow when the cylinder is rotating in the opposite direction.

5. The combination, in a coal breaker, of a Wall substantially closing the breaker cylinder at the discharge end of the same, a plow disposed at such discharge end, a hopper disposed externally of the delivery end of the breaker cylinder and having an opening disposed toward the same, and a movable door closing said hopper opening; said plow being arranged to discharge foreign material when the breaker cylinder is rotating in one direction and to retain such material within the cylinder when the latter is rotating in the opposite direction and said hopper door being opened when the foreign material is being discharged.

6. The combination with a coal breaker, comprising a rotatable cylinder with apertured walls l iil and means for rotating the same, of an end wall partly covering the end of the breaker cylinder and having a marginal opening, a housing enclosing the breaker drum, a hopper at the end of said breaker-housing having an opening disposed toward the delivery end of said breaker cylinder, a movable door arranged to close said opening, and a plow arranged in the delivery end of said cylinder; said plow serving to discharge foreign material collecting in the cylinder upon rotating the latter in a direction opposite to that of a breaking operation and the door closing the opening to said hopper being displaced when said plow is discharging.

'7. The combination with a coal breaker comprising a rotatable cylinder having apertured walls for discharge of broken coal and inlet and delivery ends, of a plow arranged at the delivery end of said cylinder and serving to discharge foreign material accompanying said coal upon rotation of the cylinder in one direction, and an apron associated said plow for diverting such foreign material over the plow when said cylinder is rotated in the opposite direction.

8. The combination with a coal breaker comprising a rotatable cylinder having apertured walls for discharge of broken coal and inlet and delivery ends, of a plow arranged at the delivery end of said cylinder and serving to discharge foreign material accompanying said coal and collected in said cylinder; said plow functioning when the cylinder is rotated in a direction opposite to that during a coal breaking operation, and an apron for diverting such foreign material over the plow when said cylinder is rotated in the opposite direction for effecting breakage of the coal operated upon; said foreign material being discharged through an opening at the delivery end of the cylinder.

9. A rotating coal breaker comprising a cylinder with apertured walls having inlet and delivery ends, a substantially vertical wall at its delivery end with an opening extending to the peripheral margin of such end through which foreign material may be discharged, means within the cylinder and moving therewith for delivering such foreign material through said opening when said breaker is moving in one direction, and means including a door normally closing the opening in said vertical wall for holding such foreign material within the breaker cylinder when the latter is operating as a breaker structure.

10. The combination with a coal breaker com; prising a rotatable cylinder with apertured walls and end frames for inlet and delivery of material operated upon, of a vertical wall at its delivery end havin a segmental opening extending to the margin of the end frame, a plow disposed at such delivery end for discharging foreign material through said opening when the breaker drum is moving in one direction, and an apron for diverting such material in reverse direction over the plow when the breaker drum is moving in the opposite direction.

11. The combination with a coal breaker comrising a rotatable cylinder with apertured walls and end frames for inlet and delivery of material operated upon, of a vertical wall at its delivery end having a segmental opening extending to the margin of the end frame, a plow disposed at suchdelivery end for discharging foreign material through said opening when the breaker drum is moving in one direction, an apron for diverting such material in reverse direction over the plow when the breaker drum is moving in the opposite direction, and a guard carried by said apron to hold such foreign material within the area of the plow.

STANLEY D. HARTSI-IORN. 

